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A Flight of Fancy Taken Unaccompanied

Supernatural 4.17: It’s a Terrible Life

Well, we're no longer ending episodes with the roadside emo sharing of pain and shedding of man tears, but now we've had several episodes in a row that end with Dean being assured that he is indeed a very special snowflake and that the fate of the entire world is in his hands. I suppose I should give up on the hope that we'll ever return to the Brothers Winchester, shoulder-to-shoulder, taking on the evil and snarking at each other dynamic, shouldn't I? I'm not saying that Jensen Ackles hasn't been wonderful with the material he's been given, but I never was drawn into The Dean Show, I was pulled in by the brothers fighting their way back towards each other and bonding. Sadly, Sam seems to be almost completely marginalized now.

Yes, I enjoyed seeing yuppie Dean eat salad and listen to NPR. Of course he looked good in a suit – he always has. And oh, how clever to have Dean be the one who went to Stanford and then into corporate America. But the ending… I’m trying to remember any other altered reality episode other than In the Beginning, which was all-Dean, all the time (What Is and What Should Never Be, Dream a Little Dream of Me, Mystery Spot, and Wishful Thinking) that didn’t show us the brothers realizing what happened and why, and more or less heading off to their next adventure together. (Really, Dean gets a personal visit from an angel to explain what happened, but as far as we know Sam is still storming out the front door of the building, and wondering what happened to his girlfriend.) Recently I recall the end of Death Takes a Holiday ending on Sam, after Pamela’s revelations, but other than that it seems like every show closes on Dean.

Again, I am not saying that JA isn’t a good actor. I am saying that this was supposed to be a show about the pair of them, and now it’s just not. (If someone – Castiel, or Dean, or someone doesn’t mention that Sam was strong enough to defeat Alastair when Castiel couldn’t do it – which ought to be a pivotal dramatic point, don’t ya think? – I’m going to be throwing things at my TV.)

The show is no longer telling stories of this pair of characters; it’s practically become Dean Winchester, Touched By a Variety of Angels. Sam just kind of drifts through the background. I want to see BOTH brothers, dammit. I am so freaking tired of this.